Deposition of John Legate

[5] Peter Legate of Avaley in the County of Essex gentl{eman}
aged 46 yeares or therabout{es} sworne and exam{ined} the 25 of
Aprill in the yeare aforesayd deposeth 1. interr{ogatory}

1 That he knoweth [Ruswell w] Iudith Ruswell widowe the
Compl{ainan}t, and the right ho{norable} Edward Earle of Oxenford
the def{endan}t, and he did know W{illia}m Ruswell deceased the
Compl{ainan}t{es} late husband, whome he knewe to be of very good
credite, and about 18 or twenty yeares since might have taken vp
wares very ladgely [=largely] in this Citty, vpon his owne
Credite ./

2 That the sayd W{illia}m Ruswell was servant and Taylor to the
def{endan}t, and vsed for a longe tyme to take vpp vpon his
Credite silkes [gl] clothe [wa] lace, and other wares for the
def{endan}t and by the def{endan}t{es} appoyntm{en}t, and [this]
he hath credibly heard [that the sayd W{illia}m] and partly
knoweth that the sayd W{illia}m Ruswell did take vpp wares and
stuffes in that sort to a very great valew, ^\\of divers men in
the Citty.// and he knoweth that he tooke vp of this dep{onen}t
att severall tymes Clothe and other wares to the valew of five or
six hundred pound{es} and [g] kept touche and payde him honestly
and truly till att the last, he [left this] became some
threescore pound{es} or an hundred mark{es} in this
dep{onen}t{es} debt and left it vnsatisfied /

3 That ther is no[w] doubt but that the def{endan}t was very much
in the sayd W{illia}m Ruswell{es} debt both for makinge of
apparell, [and] for his lordshipp and some of his servant{es},
and for the stuffes them selves w{hi}ch many tymes the sayd
W{illia}m Ruswell tooke vpp on his Creditte

4 That he remembreth that the sayd W{illia}m Ruswell did cause to
be sett downe in book{es} of account{es} all such thing{es} for
the most part as the def{endan}t stood indebted to him for, and
he sayeth that after the booke of accounte now shewed vnto him
att the tyme of his examinac{i}on was by his Lordshipp{es}
appoyntm{en}t audited by one Nicholas Bleake one of his
lo{rdships} off{icers} and therupon a Remaynder of a debt allowed
to the su{m}me of [507li] five hundred and [seven] \\eight//
pound{es}, seventene shilling{es} and two pence, as may appeare
vpon the foote of the same accounte in the sayd booke firmed with
the handwritinge of the sayde Nic{holas} Bleake this dep{onen}t
was dealt with all to have had the sayd debt of 508li [changed
from 507li] and odd mony sett over vnto him, and therupon when he
vnderstood by the sayd [b] Nic{holas} Bleake, and Mr Walters
^\\[Mr Aymys]// and other of his Lordshipp{es} servant{es} that
the same was [a good] a very good debt, this dep{onen}t att my
Late Lord Treasure{r}s house in the Stronde, had some speeche
w{i}th the def{endan}t [touch] touchinge the sayd debt, wher his
[his] lordshipp did acknowledge the debt, and tolde this
dep{onen}t that he should be payde it by his offecers [w{i}th
all] and w{i}thall willed this dep{onen}t to be good ^\\to//
Ruswell, and promised that this dep{onen}t should not lose a
groat by him, and he remembreth the same by a very good token,
[for att the same tyme] for this dep{onen}t havinge a litle
before p{ro}vided white clothe for his lordshipp{es} Liveries by
his owne appoyntm{en}t w{hi}ch his Lordshipp afterward{es}
fancied not, he caused Mr Byshopp one of his servantes to give
this dep{onen}t att the same tyme six poun{es} for a reward, to
take the white clothes agayne and to [h] lett him have some other
sort of clothe, and more sayeth not to this interr{ogatory}

5 That after the Auditinge and allowinge of the sayd debt of 500
and od pound{es} his Lordshipp grew further into the sayd
W{illia}m Ruswell{es} debt, and the same as he verily thinketh
are Duly sett downe in these other book{es} of the sayd
Ruswell{es} account{es} now shewed to him att this his
examinac{i}on, for this dep{onen}t was privy to a great part of
them how they did grow, as for [w{hi}ch] silke, lace, and clothe
w{hi}ch are therin sett[e] downe ^\\and w{hi}ch he sold to
Ruswell, and he hath heard the def{endan}t acknowledge a great
part of them// And he is perswaded in his conscience that
nether the sayd debt of ^\\the sayd// five hundred ^\\odd//
pound{es} nor the other debt{es} remayninge in those | book{es}
of accountes are in any part dischardged, for they were [longe]
shortly after they grew due sett over to this dep{onen}t, and the
book{es} remayned many yeares in his custody to the ende that if
he should receave any mony vpon them, w{hi}ch he never could, he
might satisfye himselfe and other the sayd W{illia}m Ruswell{es}
Creditors as farr as the mony{es} so receaved would extend vnto /
and since att the earnest request of the Compl{ainan}t he hath
[retur] redelivered the same book{es} vnto her beinge exec{utor}
or administrator to her husband, to see if she might recover the
sayd debt{es} toward{es} her releaffe, w{hi}ch this dep{onen}t
did not, nor went about to do, by any violent or chardgeable
course in sutes of Lawe, more then this that vpon petic{i}on made
[...] by the now Compl{ainan}t to the right ho{norable} S{i}r
Christopher Hatton late Lord Chancelo{u}r of England this
dep{onen}t{es} lord and Maister, it [me] was [mediated that]
\\dealt &// proceeded in, to some good poyntes of forwardnes,
that the def{endan}t should sell [the lea] a lease of the Mannor
of Avelye aforesayd, and should [ha] have accepted the sayd
debt{es} to the valewe of seven hundred and odd pound{es} as he
remembreth in part of paym{en}t, and the rest to be payde him in
mony, and therupon [anhu] an hundred pound{es} was lent vnto him
for a [yeare or] longe tyme without allowance for it, yet
afterward that bargayne brake of [=off] and never tooke effect